Attachment system for lines, in particular for cables for wind turbines

ABSTRACT

An attachment system for lines, in particular for cables for wind turbines, having a base body ( 1 ) which can be secured to a support structure and which forms at least one line bushing which has an opening which can be closed by a cover part ( 7 ) which can be screwed to the base body ( 1 ) for insertion of lines, is characterized by at least one receiving element which in the pertinent line bushing forms a receiving space ( 23 ) which is matched to the line or lines which are to be secured, the cover part ( 7 ) having contact surfaces ( 29 ) for the pertinent lines which are located in the respective receiving space ( 23 ) and there being a spring arrangement ( 25 ) whose spring force produces pretensioning which is active between the receiving element ( 9 ) and contact surface ( 29 ) of the cover part ( 7 ).

The invention relates to an attachment system for lines, in particular for cables for wind turbines, having a base body which can be secured to a support structure and which forms at least one line bushing which has an opening which can be closed by a cover part which can be screwed to the base body for the insertion of lines.

In order to deliver the energy produced in wind turbines and for other operating purposes such as control, monitoring, and the like, lines are necessary which must be attached to the tower segments. They are primarily cables, different systems being possible depending on whether it is a direct current or alternating current system. Thus, in alternating current systems the cables are often attached in bunches of three (according to the RST phases), while in direct current systems individual cables are laid. Laying takes place generally in several attachment tiers. The outside diameter tolerances of the cables lead to problems when the cables are being laid. In the parallel routing of bunched cables this can lead to strain in the attachment system. For attachment on top of one another this then leads to a skewed state of the system parts. In order to counteract this, in the prior art equalizing rings are used. This is disadvantageous in various regards, especially because installation is complicated and time consuming.

With respect to these problems, the object of the invention is to make available an attachment system which is characterized by special ease of installation.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by an attachment system having the features of claim 1 in its entirety.

Accordingly, one essential feature of the invention consists in that within the pertinent line bushing of the base body, there is a receiving element which forms a receiving space which is matched to the respective line or lines to be secured. For laying cables in the base body, receiving elements can thus be used whose receiving space is matched to the cable requirement by the receiving space being shaped, for example, for accommodating an individual cable, a group of two, a group of three, or a filler plug. In conjunction with spring-supported clamping of the lines which results from the pretensioning between the receiving element and the contact surface of the cover part, flush, strain-free contact of the cover part with the base body is ensured in this way for various bunched lines or cables and irrespective of possible diameter tolerances.

Another advantage is that similar base bodies can be used for attachment of various cables or bunched cables. By inserting receiving elements which have been adapted to the requirements into the base body, the attachment system can be prefabricated on a customized basis.

Especially advantageously, the arrangement can be made such that the respective receiving element is supported to be able to move in the base body and is pretensioned by the spring force for movement against the cover part.

Preferably, the base body along one longitudinal axis has more than one line bashing, the receiving elements having a support plate which extends along the longitudinal axis and whose edge facing the cover part borders the receiving space. Here, the edge in the support plate can form a depression whose shaping and depth are matched to the cables or bunches to be accommodated.

In especially advantageous exemplary embodiments, the base body has a bottom part which extends underneath the line bushings, between the bottom part and the receiving elements, with one compression spring at a time being clamped which pretensions the receiving elements against the cover part.

With respect to the arrangement of the receiving elements in the base body, the arrangement can be advantageously made such that the receiving elements on both sides of the support plate have guide strips which are movably guided in guide grooves which run laterally to the line bushings perpendicular to the bottom part in the base body.

In the guide grooves a depression can especially advantageously form a locking edge which in interaction with a catch projection of the pertinent guide strip prevents the receiving element from moving out of the base body. The captive arrangement of the receiving elements in the base body facilitates both prefabrication and also installation.

In one advantageous exemplary embodiment, the base body laterally from the line bushings forms column bodies which extend from the bottom part to the opening of the line bushings and on which guide grooves are made for the guide strips of the receiving elements.

Here, the arrangement can be made such that in the column bodies of the base body, there are through bores to which bores in the cover part are assigned for forming the screwed connection.

For an arrangement in a tiered construction, on the bottom part of the base body and on the outer side of the cover part opposite the contact surface, there can be alignment means which can be caused to engage one another, so that the pertinent units can be easily arranged flush with one another and on top of one another during installation.

In especially advantageous exemplary embodiments, in addition to or instead of the spring support of the receiving elements from the base part, there can be a spring support on the side of the cover part in that the contact surfaces with the cover part are formed by moveable pressure bodies which are pretensioned by spring force in the direction of the receiving space of the assigned receiving element located in the base body. This advantageously enables compensation of larger tolerances of shape and/or dimensions of the cables or bunched cables which are to be secured.

The invention is detailed below using the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of one exemplary embodiment of the attachment system;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of only the base body of the exemplary embodiment, drawn on a smaller scale compared to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective oblique view of only the cover part of the exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 4A to 4D show front views of receiving elements of the exemplary embodiment which are matched to different cable applications;

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged, cutaway, perspective oblique view of part of the base body of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a partial longitudinal section of the base body from FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a front view in which the exemplary embodiment is shown in a tiered construction;

FIG. 8 shows a cutaway longitudinal section of one modified exemplary embodiment of the attachment system, shown on a larger scale than in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 shows a cutaway front view of another exemplary embodiment, enlarged compared to FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 shows, in comparison, a further enlarged, open, perspective oblique view of the spring housing with a spring-loaded pressure body for the other exemplary embodiment.

A first exemplary embodiment of the attachment system is explained below using FIGS. 1 to 7. In the illustrated example, a base body 1 which is shown separately in FIG. 2 forms a strip-shaped or beam-shaped body which on its underside forms a closed bottom part 3 and line bushings 5 which are arranged at regular intervals along the longitudinal axis of the base body 1 and which are open towards the top which is opposite the bottom part 3. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment there are three line bushings 5. FIG. 3 separately shows a cover part 7 which, as the upper termination of the base body 1, can be screwed to the latter, the screw connection not being shown in the drawings. The line bushings 5, as is best shown by FIGS. 5 and 6, are shaped such that one receiving element 9 at a time can be inserted into the respective line bushing 5 FIGS. 4A to 4D show examples of the receiving elements 9 which are adapted to the respective requirements, FIG. 4A showing the shape for a blind plug, FIG. 4B the shape for an individual cable of comparatively large cross section, FIG. 4C the shape for two individual cables, and FIG. 4D the shape for a bunch of three cables. The receiving elements 9, for supporting the respective cables, form a support plate 11 which extends along the longitudinal axis and which is connected on both sides to the guide strips 13 which can be pushed into the guide grooves 15 which, as FIGS. 5 and 6 show, are made in the base body 1 within the line bushings 5. The guide strips 13 on the end side have catch projections 17, which, after pushing into the base body 1, in interaction with a locking edge 19 in the guide grooves 15 (see especially FIG. 6) impede removal of the receiving elements 9 from the base body 1, so that the receiving elements 9 are captively held.

As FIGS. 4A to 4D clearly show, the upper edge, i.e., the edge 21 of the support plate 11 of the receiving elements 9, which edge faces the cover part 7 in the state inserted into the base body 1, forms the boundary of the respective receiving space 23 (FIGS. 4B to 4D), in the support plate 11 a more or less large or deep depression being formed which in the example from FIG. 4D has a roughly V-shaped cross section for holding a bunch of three. In the central region of each line bushing 5, the base body 1 on the bottom part 3 forms a seat 25 (FIGS. 5 and 6) for a compression spring 27 which is supported on the bottom of the support plate 11 of the pertinent receiving element 9 in order to pretension it for movement along the guide grooves 15 against the cover part 7. As FIG. 1 shows, in this way the cables located in the receiving space 23 of the receiving elements 9 are tensioned against the contact surface 29 of the cover part 7 which has been screwed to the base body 1.

For purposes of the screw connection of the cover part 7 and the base body 1, the base body 1 laterally from the line bushings 5 has column bodies 31 which, on their sides facing the line bushings 5, form guide grooves 15 and contain through bores 33 to which the corresponding bores 35 are assigned in the cover part 7 to form the screw connection. In order to ensure exact alignment of the base body 1 and cover parts 7 during installation, especially in a tiered construction, as is shown in FIG. 7, there are alignment means In the illustrated example they are projecting guide projections 37 which project concentrically to the through bores 33 on the base body 1, and receivers which are provided on the cover part 7 for the projections 37 and which are formed by widenings 39 of the bores 35 of the cover part 7.

The modified exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 differs from the first exemplary embodiment only in a different construction of the cover part 7. Unlike in the first exemplary embodiment, the components located in the line bushings 5 are secured not only by spring support of the bottom part 3 of the base body 1, but also by spring support from the cover part 7. For this purpose, on the cover part 7 there are movable pressure bodies 41 which form the contact surfaces 29. The pressure bodies 41 are pretensioned by compression springs 43 for movement against the interior of the receiving spaces 23 of the line bushings 5. Spring support from the cover part 7 could also replace the spring support from the bottom part 3.

The latter is the case in the other exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 in which there are no movable receiving elements 9 which are spring-loaded from the bottom part 3 on the base body 1, but the base body 1 itself forms the receiving spaces 23 which are bordered by the edges 21. As a replacement for the lack of spring action from the bottom part 3, in the example from FIGS. 9 and 10 the spring force which is active from the top cover part 7 is intensified by there being, instead of an individual spring 43, one spring assembly which is formed from several compression springs 43 located next to one another and which is located within the spring housing which is designated as a whole as 51 in FIG. 10. The spring housing has guideways 53 in which guide strips 55 which extend into the spring housing 51 in the corner regions of the pressure body 41 are guided for a lifting path which corresponds to a comparatively long spring path which is bordered by stop projections 57 and 59 to prevent emergence of the tensioned pressure body 41 from the spring housing 51. As is most clearly shown in FIG. 9, on the corner regions of the spring housing 51 there are locking strips 61 with catch projections 63 which in interaction with catch projections 65 on the base body 1 captively lock the spring housing 51 on the base body 1 and thus make it possible for the cables to be inserted into the receiving spaces 23 with the cover part 7 not yet attached and before the cover part is mounted, for the cables to be temporarily protected against falling out by attachment of the spring housing 51. 

1. An attachment system for lines, in particular for cables for wind turbines, having a base body (1) which can be secured to a support structure and which forms at least one line bushing (5) which has an opening which can be closed by a cover part (7) which can be screwed to the base body (1) for insertion of lines, characterized by at least one receiving element which in the pertinent line bushing forms a receiving space (23) which is matched to the line or lines which are to be secured, the cover part (7) having contact surfaces (29) for the pertinent lines which are located in the respective receiving space (23) and there being a spring arrangement (25, 43) whose spring force produces pretensioning which is active between the receiving element (9) and contact surface (29) of the cover part (7).
 2. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the respective receiving element (9) is supported to be able to move in the base body (1) and is pretensioned by the spring force for movement against the cover part (7).
 3. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body (1) along one longitudinal axis forms more than one line bushing (5) and that the receiving elements (9) have a support plate (11) which extends along the longitudinal axis and whose edge (21) facing the cover part (7) borders the receiving space (23).
 4. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body (1) has a bottom part (3) which extends underneath the line bushings (5) and that between the bottom part and the receiving elements (9) a compression spring (25) is clamped which pretensions the receiving elements (9) against the cover part (7).
 5. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the receiving elements (9) on both sides of the support plate (11) have guide strips (13) which are movably guided in guide grooves (15) which run laterally to the line bushings (5) perpendicular to the bottom part (3) in the base body (1).
 6. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that in the guide grooves (15) a depression forms a locking edge (19) which, in interaction with a catch projection (17) of the pertinent guide strip (13), prevents the receiving element (9) from moving out of the base body (1).
 7. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body (1) laterally from the line bushings (5) forms column bodies (31) which extend from the bottom part (3) to the opening of the line bushings (5) and on which guide grooves (15) are made for the guide strips (13) of the receiving elements (9).
 8. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that in the column bodies (31) of the base body (1) there are through bores (33) in which bores (35) in the cover part (7) are assigned to form the screwed connection.
 9. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that for the arrangement in a tiered construction on the bottom part (3) of the base body (1) and on the outer side of the cover part (7) opposite the contact surface (29) there are alignment means (37, 39) which can be caused to engage one another.
 10. The attachment system according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact surfaces (29) with the cover part (7) are formed by moveable pressure bodies (41) which are pretensioned by spring force (43) in the direction to the receiving space (23) of the assigned receiving element (9) located in the base body (1).
 11. The attachment system according to claim 10, characterized in that the pressure bodies (41) can each be moved in a spring housing (51) in a guide (53) which enables a limited spring path in the direction to the respective receiving space (23) and are pretensioned by a spring assembly which is formed from several compression springs (43) and which is located in the spring housing (51). 